Packaging machine



Dec. 8,1931. E. P. WETMORE PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Sept. 2; 1925 .5 Sheets-Sheet l I N VEN TOR. [ar/ 1. Wfmore x BY ATTORNEY Dec. 8, 1931. w o 1,835,547

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Sept. 2, 1925 15 Sheets-:Sheet 2 Fig. 4-.

IN VEN TOR.

['ar/ 1. I'VE/more mm A TTORNEY Dec. 8, 1931. E. P. WETMORE 1,835,547

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Sept. 2, 1925 15 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN V EN TOR.

Earl P Wei/770m m M A TTORNEY Dec. 8, 1931. E. P. WETMORE PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Spt. 2, 1925 15 Sheets-Sheet 5 I N V EN TOR. [ml 1 Wei/Wore A TTORNEY Dec. 8, 1931. E. P. WETMORE 1,835,547

' PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Sept. 2, 1925 15 Sheets-Sheet 6 ATTORNEY Dec. 8,1931. WETMORE 1,835,547

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Sept. 2, 1925 15 Sheets-Sheet '7 I N VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY Dec. 8, 1931. E. P.'WETMORE 1,335,547

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Sept. 2, 1925 l5. Sheets-Sheet 8 \n N W m N 1 7) :3 INVENTOR.

Far! I. Pi af/770m ATTORNEY E. P. WETMORE 1 ,835,547

PACKAGING MACHINE File'd Sept. 2, 1925 15 Sheets-Sheet 9 N i k w m H. a m w a. M U H1- a. N &w M m bu an A on 8w 5 H I N/ 0 Q J Mm E l 7 V M I 2.5L 0 6 EH own 3 Nu .T Nu a5 a. 3. A vmw 2m NE R www $5; 7 TV MQN M, N ww {mm 3 k8 h M \wm A Gm. m6, an an a m mww m N; g. mww EN QM 3n fi mmN MN Ru NW MN au- MQN N Dec. 8, 1931. WETMQRE 1,835,547

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Sept. 2, 1925 15 Sheets-Sheet l0 ATTORNEY N Dec. 8, 1931. E. P. WETMORE 1,835,547

FACKAGZQNG MACHINE Filed Sept. 2, 1925 15 Sheets-Sheet 11 IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEY Dec. 8, 1931. E. P. WETMORE PACKAGING MACHINE 15 Sheets-Sheet 12 Filed Sept. 2, 1925 aaa-g, 316

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e m m J mm m V? 0 NW n m w 2Y4 8, 1931. E. P. WETMORE PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Sept. 2, 1925 Sheets-Sheet 15 IN VEN TOR. [ar/ 1. Wei/770m ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 8, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EARL P.-WETMORE, OF CONCORD, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

CHESTER H. BRASELTON CORPORATION, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORA- TION OF DELAWARE PACKAGING MACHINE Application filed September 2, 1925.

My present invention relates to a method and apparatus for wrapping materials, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for forming bulk materials into rectangular or brick formed masses and then Wrapping these bricks with paper, or other suitable wrapping material, to form sepa rate packages, capable of being readily handled. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming binder.

into bricks and wrapping, plastic materials, such as the composite fuel pastes formed of coal or other solid fuel and a liquid fuel The invention also relates to a form of wrapped package.

Composite fuels of the type mentioned above, in the handling of which the invention is particularly described by way of e ample, are diflicult to handle in bulk inasmuch as they are too stifl' to flow readily or to be pumped in the manner of liquids, while being too sticky and plastic to be conveniently and neatly handled with shovels or other conveying mechanism or tools in the manner of solid or granular materials. These characteristics, therefore, impose difliculties and limitations on the distribution and use of the fuel, particularly for domestic consumption.

An object of my present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for forming fuels of this type, or other material of similar characteristics, into bricks and enclosing or wrapping the bricks in a suitable wrapper.

Fuels of the above type, and frequently other materials to which the invention may be applied, whether of plastic or other form, are handled in enormous quantities and are of relatively low price, and, it is, therefore necessary to reduce the cost ofpackaging to the lowest possible figure and to avoid, as much as possible, manual operations and the use of special or expensive forms of wrappers.

Another object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a method and an apparatus by which paper or other Wrapping material may be drawn from a roll and cut and Serial No. 54,024.

Wrapped about the material in simple and automatic operations.

A further object of the invention is to provide a package which will present smooth, even, exterior surfaces and which will provide asecure and impervious enclosure for retaining the wrapped material.

I Still further objects of the invention are to provide a machine Which will draw paper from a supply roll in a continuous manner and feed lengths therefrom at intermittent intervals to a position to receive material to be wrapped, to provide a method of cutting and of folding paper about material to be packaged in such a manner as to enable it to be easily and smoothly wrapped, to provide an adhesive applying mechanism which will strengthen the Wrapper and enable the wrapping operations to be facilitated, to provide a simple and effective knife operating mechanism for severing sheets to be Wrapped from a length delivered from the supply roll, to provide wrapping mechanism for com-- pletely wrapping and enclosing the material while the material is held stationary, to provide a mechanism in which compact, uniform bricks may be formed from plastic ma terial, and to provide mechanism for carrying and accurately positioning bricks of plastic material to be wrapped.

lVith these, and other objects in view, which may be more fully understood and appreciated from the following description, the invention comprises the method and apparatus described and set forth in the following specification and claims.

The various features of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which V Figure 1 is a plan view of a mechanism for forming plastic material into bricks and conveying the bricks into a position to be wrapped; V v

Figure 2 is a side view of the mechanism of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a horizontal, sectional view of a portion of the mechanism taken on line 33 of Figure 2, showing brick forming plungers in one of their positions in the forming of the bricks;

Figure 4 is a horizontal, sectional view of a portion of the mechanism taken on line 33 of Figure 2, showing the brick forming plungers in another of their positions in forming the bricks;

Figure 5 is a similar horizontal sectional view of a portion of the brick forming mechanism taken on line 33 of Figure 2, showing the plungers in another of their positions;

Figure 6 is a similar horizontal sectional View of a portion of the brickforming mechanism taken on line 33 of Figure 2, showing the plungers in another of their positions;

Figure 7 is a similar horizontal sectional view of a different portion of the brick forming mechanism taken on line 33 of Figure 2 and showing a plunger in the position-of Figure 4;

Figure 8 is a similar horizontal sectional view of the brick forming mechanism taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2, showing the plungers in still another of the positions of their cycle of operations.

Figure 9 is an end view of the brick forming mechanism;

Figure 10 is a vertical. sectional view of a plunger operating arm and actuating or driving mechanism therefor;

Figure 11 is a vertical, cross-sectional view of the mechanism taken on line 11-11 of Figure 2;

Figure 12 is a vertical, cross-sectional View of the mechanism, taken on line 1212 of Figure 2;

Figure 13 is a vertical sectional view of the delivery end of the'brick forming and carrying mechanism and the adjacent end of a wrapping mechanism to which bricks of the fuel are delivered, the section being taken on approximately the center line of the machines;

Figure 14 is aplan view of a machine for taking wrapping paper from a roll, ap-

I plying glue to one of its surfaces, and wrappmg it about material to form a package;

Figure 15 is a side view of the machine shown in Figure 14;

Figure 16 is a side view of a portion of the machine taken from the opposite side from that of Figure 15;

Figure 17 is a longitudinal, vertical, sectional view of the machine taken on line 17-17 of Figure 14;

Figure 18 is a vertical, sectional view of a portion of the driving gears of the machine taken on line 1818 of Figure 14;

Figure 19 is a vertical, sectional view of a portion of the driving gears of the machine taken on line 1919 of Figure 14;

Figure 20 is a vertical, cross-sectional view of the machine taken on line 2020 of Figure'15;

Figure 21 is a cross-sectional view of the machine taken on line 21.-2l of Figure 15;

Figure 22 is a cross-sectional view of the machine taken on line 22-22 of Figure 15;

Figure 23 is a cross-sectional view of the machine taken on line 2323 of Figure 15;

Figure 24 is a cross-sectional view taken on. line 2424 of Fig. 15;

F i gure 25 is a cross-sectional view of the mar Line taken on line 2525 of Figure 15;

Figure 26 is a detail view of a guide member of the machine taken on line 26-26 of Figure 23;

Figure 27 is a perspective view of a sheet of wrapping paper cut and slit preparatory to folding and of a brick suitably placed thereon for folding;

Figure 28 is a perspective view of the sheet and brick after the first folding operation has been performed and the paper bent upwardly adjacent the sides of the brick;

Figure 29 is a perspectiveview of the brick and wrapping paper after the second folding opera tion has been performed and one of the upwardly projecting portions of the paper has been folded downwardly on the top face of the brick;

Figure 30 is a similar perspective view of the brick and paper after the other upright portion has been folded downwardly on the top face of the brick;

Figure 31 is a view of the brick and paper after the portions of the paper projecting from the top and bottom faces of the brick have been folded over the ends of the brick; and

Figure is a view of the brick and paper after the folding operations have been completed.

In my present invention, a continuous sheet of paper or other suitable wrapping material is drawn from a supply roll through sets of rollers, in which one face of the paper may be suitably printed, and auadhesive, such as glue, or casein, may be applied to the oppote face of the paper. During this passage between the rollers, the sheet'is also slitin a manner to enable it to be conveniently folded or wrapped about the material to bepackaged in later operations, The face of the paper to which the adhesive hasbeen applied is then brought uppermost and a length of paper, sufficient to wrap and enclose a brick of the material to be wrapped, is carried forward at suitable intervals, cut to the requisite dimensions, and brought to a position to receive the material. A brick of the material is then placed on the paper in suitable position for wrapping and the sheet of paper is then folded upwardly against the sides of the brick, and. then over the top face of the brick, one edge being overlapped by the other edge, and entirely covering thesides and top of th-e brick The slits previously formed in the paper are so positiou'edthat they eXt'endin pairs from the end edges of the sid'es of the brick to the adjacent endsof'the wrapping sheet and between, and slightly spaced from, the upper and lower folded edges of the sheet. The top and bottom portions of the sheet projecting over the ends of the brick of material are then bent downwardly and upwardly, respectively, over the end faces of the brick, the positions of the slits being such as to enable the projecting ends to be easily bent or folded and to completely cover the ends. Tabs are accordingly left projecting from the sides of the wrapper which are then bent over the ends of the bricks. thus securing and tightly enclosing the bricks. The coating of casein or glue or other equivalent adhesive serves to secure the wrapper in position and also renders the paper or other wrapping material stronger and impervious to the liquid content of the wrapped material.

The material to be wrapped may be formed into the shape of bricks, or other shapes suitable for wrapping, in any manner suited to the properties and characteristics of the material to be wrapped. In the application of the invention to the packing of plastic fuel compositions illustrated in the following description, in which the fuel composition has suflicient stiffness and rigidity to maintain its shape during the wrapping operations, a mass of the fuel is pressed by means of a plunger or other suitable means into a mold, or chamber, of the dimensions of the brick and is then forced through one end of the mold, which is left open for this purpose. The bricks, thus formed, are then individually and separately carried, in succession, to the successive wrapping sheets positioned to receive them and are accurately deposited thereon in proper position for the wrapping operations. When the wrapping operations have been. completed for one brick of material, the brick is removed from the machine, a succeeding sheet of paper, properly cut and coated, brought into proper position for wrapping, a succeeding brick of material deposited thereon, and the wrapping operations are repeated.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, a supply of the plastic fuel to be wrapped is charged from any desired source through a hopper 40 into a horizontal chamber or conduit 41, preferably of rectangular cross-section, which opens at one end into a molding chamber or passage 42 of rectangular cross-section and of dimensions equal to the cross-sectional dimensions of the bricks to be formed and wrapped. chamber or passage 42 serves as aform or mold for forming the bricks to be wrapped and the passage 41 serves as a supply passage for filling the forming passage 42 with fuel and holding the fuel in shape while the brick is being formed.

For this purpose, a plunger 43 is mounted in the passage 41 to reciprocate therein and fitting the passage with suflicient tightness to The prevent the leakage of fuel therepast, and a I plunger 44 is similarly mounted to reciprocate in the forming passage 42. The reciprocations of these plungers are so timed that the plunger 43 withdraws to permit the passage 41 to fill with fuel, forces the charge of fuel into the passage 42, holds it in the passage 42 under pressure while the plunger 44 reciprocates across the opening between the passages to cut out and force from the passage a brick of the desired size. The plunger 44 then withdraws until its pushing face 45 is in alignment with the adjacent face 46 of the passage 41 and remains in this position while the plunger 43 withdraws, to enable the passage 41 to again fill, and forces a new charge of fuel into the forming passage 42. To obtain the requisite movement and holding at rest of the plunger 43, the plunger 43 is actuated by a driving plunger 47, which, in a part of its cycle of movement drives the plunger 43 and in the remaining portion of its cycle of movement moves independently of the plunger 43 and permits the plunger 43 to remain at rest. Similarly, the plunger 44 is actuated by a plunger 48, which, in a por tion of its cycle of movement, drives the plunger 44, and, in the remainder of the cycle, permits the plunger 44 to remain at rest.

In the positions shown in Figure 3, the plunger 43 is at its greatest distance from the passage 42, its driving face 49 being at a sufficient distance therefrom to enable a sufficient charge of fuel to be supplied through the hop per 40 to form a brick, and as the plunger 47 moves forwardly towards the passage 42, it presses the plunger 43 through springs 50, confined between the plungers, and drives it to the position shown in Figure 6, the plunger 44 remaining at rest while the actuating plunger 48is withdrawn to the position shown in Figure 4. The movement of the plungers 43 and 47 continues to the position shown in Figure 5, the plunger 44 remaining at rest while the plunger 48 returns to a position to drive the plunger 44. During this movement of. the plunger 47, it has forced a charge of fuel from the supply conduit 41 into a space in the mold passage 42, formed between the walls of the conduit, the face 45 of plunger 44 and the rear face, indicated by broken line 51, of a previously formed brick 52, this space being of somewhat larger dimensions than the brick to be formed. lVhen the positions of Figure 5 are reached, the further movement of the plunger 43 is prevented by a stop 53 on the plunger 43 which then reaches and is stopped by the edge 54 of the wall of the conduit 41. Further movement of the plunger 47 therefore merely serves to compress the springs 50.

The further movement of the other plunger 48 serves to drive the molding plunger 44 to the position shown in Figure 6, while the iio plunger 47 reaches its limit of movement, and to drive the plunger 44 to the position shown in Figure 8 while the plunger 47 is withdrawing to the position shown in Figure 8 during which movement the springs 50 are permitted to expand. As the plungers 44 and 48 move to the position ofFigure 8 the material forced into the molding passage 42 by the preceding movement of the plunger 43 is forced into an extension 55 of the chamber 42 pushing the previouslyformed brick 52 through an opening 56 in position to be carried to thewrap ping machine.

As the plungers 44 and 48 approach the positions shown in Figure 8, an arm 57, rigidly mounted on a projecting portion of a locking pin 58, carriedby the plunger 44 and projecting through a slot 59 in the conduit 42, strikes a pin 60, projecting upwardly from the surface of the chamber 42, and is rotated. The portion of the pin 58 within the plunger 44 is of semi-cylindrical or eccentric shape so that, as it turns, it enters a recess 61 in the plunger 48 and thus locks the plungers 44 and 48 to each other. The plungers remain locked in this manner until they reach the positions shown .in Figure 3, whereupon the arm 57 contacts with a projecting pin 62 at the end of the conduit and is rotated to unlocking position, thus enabling the plunger 48 to continue its movement while the further movement of the plunger 44 is prevented by a stop 63. During this movement of the plnngers 44 and 48, the plungers 43 and 47 have also returned'to the positions shown in Fi ure 3 and the cycle is repeated.

It is to be noted that, should more than.

sufficient fuel be forced by the plunger 45 than is required to form brick, the springs 50 will enable the plunger 43 to stop short of its full stroke without injury. The next movement of the plunger 44. will, in any event form a brick of the required size. The springs 50 are preferably held in position by suitable wells 64 in the plunger 47 in which the springs are mounted.

The plungers 47 and 48 are driven through their cycles of movement from a main drive shaft 65 positioned lengthwise beneath the molding chamber 42 and journaled in suitable bearings 66 carried by a pair ofupright supports 67 and 68 which also serve to support a frame 69 on which the chamber 42 is mounted. The shaft 65 may be driven from any suitable source of power and may drive the plungers 47 and 48 through any power transmitting mechanism that will give the requisite movement to the plungers.

In driving the plunger 48, the movement of the shaft 65 is preferably transmitted through bevel gears 70 and 71 to a vertical shaft 72, which is journaled in fixed position onthe frame 69. Rigidly mounted on the upper end of the shaft 72 is a pinion 73, which meshes with a double rack 74,

and on each face of the pinion 73 are rollers 75 and 76, see Figure 10, which roll on guide rails 77 and 78, respectively, on each side of the rack 74, and in close proximity or contact with the inner surface of the side walls 79 of a container hon or casing 80, in which the rack is mounted, and thus serve to hold the rack and pinion in proper meshing relation. The rack 74 is mounted within the box or casing 80 by means of bolts 81 securing it to the top 82 of the casing. The casing 80 is connected to the plunger 48 by means of a connecting rod 83 rigidly mounted at one end to the casing and pivotally connected at its other end to the plunger 48 by means of a wrist pin 84. This connection enables the casing 80 and rack 74 to swing or rock slightly about the wrist pin 84 as a pivot but prevents them from being rotated about the shaft 72 and pinion 73 by the rotation of the pinion. As the pinion 73 rotates, therefore, it pushes the rack 74 and casing 80 first in one direction, then swings the end of the rack about to the other side of the pinion, pushes the rack in the opposite direction, and upon reaching the opposite end of the rack swings it to its original position. The reciprocating movement thus given to the rack 74 and casing 80 is transmitted through the connecting rod 83 to the plunger 48.

In driving the plunger 47, motion is transmitted from the shaft 65 through a bevel gear-85 at the opposite end of the shaft 65 to a bevel gear-86 mounted on a shaft 87 extending at a. right angle to the shaft beneath the passage 41 and journaled in a suitable bearing carried between the support 67 and a support 88 and, at its other end, journaled in a bearing mounted on an upright support 90 of a frame 91 on which the passage 41 is mounted. The rotary movement of the shaft 87 is transmitted through bevel gears 92 and 93, Figure 9, to an upright shaft 94, which projects upwardly through the frame 91. The upper end of the shaft 94 projects into a rack box or casing 95 and is provided with a pinion 96 which meshes with a double rack 97 mounted within the casing 95 and similar in form and function to the rack 74. The shaft 94 and pinion 96 are also provided with guide rolle 's and the rack 97 with guide tracks similar tothose of the pinion 73 and rack 74, respectively. The casing 95 is connected. to the plunger 47 by means of a connecting rod 98 rigidly mounted at one end on the casing and connected at its other end to the plunger 47 by means of a wrist pin 99.

The relation of the pitch circle of the pinion '73 to the pitch line of the rack 74 is the same as that of the pinion 96 to the rack 97, in the present instance, the circumferences of the-pitch circles being one fifth the length of therack pitch line, so that the racks and their plungers make a complete reciprocating cycle and form and expel a brick for each six revolutions of the actuating pinions and of the shaft 65. Accordingly, when the racks are once set in their proper phase relation, they continue to reciprocate in the sequence required to form the bricks and expel them through the extension 55 and opening 56 in position to be carried to the wrapping mechanism.

The extension 55 is of the same length as that of brick so that when a brick, such as the brick 52, is pushed through the opening 56 by a succeeding brick, the advancing face of the newly formed brick will reach the opening 56 on the completion of its movement, and the adjacent rear face of the expelled brick 52 is severed therefrom by a knife blade 101 which moves vertically upwardly in close contact with the edge of the opening 56. The brick thus expelled and severed is received on a horizontal carrying plate 102, the upper surface of which is even or slightly lower than the lower face 103 of the extension 55. The plate 102 is supported by and between a pair of reciproeating horizontal bars 104 and 105 on opposite sides of the extension 55, which reciprocate at intervals to place the plate 102 in position to receive the expelled brick and then carry it to the wrapping machine.

The bars 104 and 105 are supported immediately in front of the opening 56 by pairs of supporting rollers 106 and 107, respectively, on which the full Weight of the brick is supported as it is delivered by the brick forming apparatus. As the carrying plate 102 and its brick pass forwardly of the supporting rollers, the rear ends of the bars are held from tilting upwardly, and are held in position, by means of rollers on which the upwarc thrust of the rear ends of the bars is received. The upward thrust of the bar 104, which is on the opposite side of the molding chamber 42 from the feed conduit 41, is received directly on a roller 108 mounted on a stub shaft 109 projecting from the face of the chamber 42.

Because of the nearness of the conduit 41 on the other side of the molding chamber 42, the bar 105 cannot be made long enough to be supported directly in this manner. It is therefore connected by means of upwardly extending arms 110 to a horizontal, reciproeating, supporting bar 111 positioned above the passage 42 and bearing upwardly against a roller wheel 112 j-ournaled in a lug 113 projecting upwardly from the top of the passage 42.

As the carriage plate 102 moves forwardly with its supported brick it passes beneath a transverse plate 114 supported at a height above the moving brick by means of a pair of arms 115 and 116 supported at their lower ends on pivots 117 mounted on the frame 69 of the apparatus. When the carrying plate 102 reaches its foremost position above a table 118 of a wrapping machine and a little in advance of the position it is to occupy in the wrapping operations, a pin 119 projecting outwardly from the bar 104 pushes the rear edge of the arms 115 and causes it to fall forwardly until the plate 114 rests on the carrying plate 102. In this posit-ion, the forward face of the plate 114 is in line with the position which the rear face of the brick should occupy in the wrapping operations. As the plate 102 moves rearwardly, therefore, the plate 114 stops the brick in its proper position and holds it until the plate 102 has been entirely withdrawn, leaving the brick supported on the table 118 in proper position for wrapping. Then the plate 102 reaches its rearmost position a pin 120, proj ecting from the bar 104, pushes the arm 115 rearwardly, raising the plate 114 to its original position.

Inasmuch as the knife blade 101 and the carriage plate 102 are moved in a definite relation to the operations of the brick forming operations, it is desirable to have them driven from the drive shaft 65, but as they make but one cycle of operation for each six rotations of the shaft 65, the speed of the shaft 65 is reduced one sixth in its transmission to a drive shaft for the knife and carriage mechanism. To this end, a gear 121 is rigidly mounted on the shaft 65 to mesh with a larger gear 122 rigidly mounted on a rotatable shaft 123 supported parallel to the shaft 65 in bearings formed in the uprights 67 and 88. On the other end of the shaft 123 is mounted a smaller gear 124 which meshes with a larger gear 125 rigidly mounted on. a'drive shaft 126 for the operation of the knife blade 101 and carrying plate102. Through the gears 121, 122, 124 and 125, the speed of the mechanism is so reduced that the shaft 126 rotates at one sixth the speed of the shaft 65 and thus makes one revolution for each cycle of brick forming operations, and thus for each brick.

The knife blade 101 is actuated directly from the shaft 126 by means of a cam 127 having in one face a cam groove 128 in which works a roller 129. The roller 129 is mounted in fixed position on a vertically reciprocable arm 130 widened at its upper end to enable the knife blade 101 to be mounted and guided thereon. To hold the arm 130 in upright position, it is bifurcated at its lower end portion as at 131 and straddles the shaft 126 and at its upper end its side edges reciprocate in guides 182 and 133 mounted in the frame 69 on opposite sides of the forming passage extension 55. The knife blade 101 is also provided with guides 134, Figure 12, mounted on the end of the extension 55. The cam groove 128 is circular and centered on the shaft 126 for 

